Prince Eugene of Savoy

Prince Eugene of Savoy (18 October 1663-21 April 1736) was a Habsburg general who fought in the Ottoman-Habsburg Wars, War of the League of Augsburg, and the War of the Spanish Succession.

Biography
Raised at the French court, Prince Eugene of Savoy was refused the chance to serve in Louis XIV of France's army because of the king's personal animosity. Instead, he shifted to Vienna, defending the city under Ottoman siege in 1683.

Early Distinction
Eugene so distinguished himself in subsequent Austrian campaigns against the Turks and the French that he had risen to Field-Marshal by the age of thirty. A bold and decisive commander, in September 1697 Eugene surprised a large Turkish army crossing the Tisza River at Zenta in Serbia, inflicting a crushing defeat on numerically superior forces. The battle made Eugene one of the most celebrated generals in Europe.

During the War of the Spanish Succession, Eugene met the Duke of Marlborough and, after the victory of Blenheim, cooperated with him at Oudenarde in 1708 and Malplaquet in 1709. He also drove the French out of Italy in campaigns of his own. His later years were less brilliant, although seizing Belgrade from the Ottomans in 1717 was another major step in the repulse of the Turks in southeast Europe. Much of Eugene's life outside combat was devoted to improving the organization of the Austrian army.